Tag Archives: resilience

It is difficult to watch the destruction and pain caused by the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. People find hope in believing residents will rebuild and recover. They talk of resilience.

Last year I wrote a blog post on resilience in managing . While it is an important skill for our work as managers, I wonder what resilience will demand of the people of Moore. We should not take it lightly. We may try to comfort ourselves by saying they’ll be back. But in doing so, we negate the tremendous strength it takes to recover from an experience such as the people of Moore have gone through.

Resilience stretches us and those who are resilient deserve our admiration. That includes managers.

Resilience: The capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress. *

What shape were you in when you started managing? What shape are you in now? Granted, things change. But, are you in better, equal or worse shape than when you started managing? Managing is not about draining your reserves or changing your shape. All are served when you bring your best self to managing. Sure, there is “compressive stress” in managing – that is a given. Surviving and thriving as a manager depends on your resilience and ability to recover from stress. Things that build your resilience include: boundaries – drawn with people, time and space, getting away from work on a regular basis, articulating your needs, approaching tasks with a sense of realism and truth, focusing on creating resilient teams and self – care.